The present invention relates more generally to corner reflector articles and more specifically to units which are foldable in character and embody novel pop-open features. The articles herein are made so that their panel members can be folded adjacent one another into relatively flat booklike units for compact storage, and are such that upon release and deployment, each unit automatically pops-open to form a plurality of from preferably 6 to 8 right angle trihedral corner reflectors integrated therewith.
These novel articles are potentially useful for various and unrelated purposes, including use as a reflector of microwaves, millimeter waves, and lightwaves. One very important military use would be as a decoy target. Used as such, they reflect much more of the source-generated energy waves back to the source than would normal size non-reflective articles, irrespective of their deployed orientation relative to the source, thereby deceiving the enemy into thinking that there are one or more large objects such as a tank or a truck in that area. The ability to fold generally flat minimizes storage space requirements, thus allowing for many more units to be carried by troops in the field.
The articles also can be used as navigational aides for shipboard use to make them visible to radar on other vessels, for hastily constructed airports, helicopter landing sites, and for rescue sites. PG,3
Other non-analogous uses envisioned for these foldable articles include scaled down low cost highly aesthethic decorations, multi-faced advertising devices in various sizes, and various recreational or toy-like devices. For all uses of these articles, they may embody different geometric overall envelope configurations including those having substantially cubical, spherical and various polyhedron shapes, and combinations thereof.